U.S. patent application number 11/129697 was filed with the patent office on 2006-11-16 for media object organization across information management services.
This patent application is currently assigned to Yahoo! Inc.. Invention is credited to Marco Boerries, Joseph Joaquin Martin, Torsten Schulz, Jerald Jayant Singh, Venkatachary Srinivasan.
Application Number | 20060259511 11/129697 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37420413 |
Filed Date | 2006-11-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060259511 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Boerries; Marco ; et
al. |
November 16, 2006 |
Media object organization across information management
services
Abstract
A media object organizer organizes media objects, such as still
or moving photographic images, audio files, or documents. The media
object organizer includes memory for storing metadata concerning
media objects, and association logic for associating at least one
metadatum with at least one organizational attribute maintained by
an information management service. The information management
service may be a PIM-type service, such as calendar, address book
or task list. The organizational attribute may be based upon time,
place or person, among other attributes.
Inventors: |
Boerries; Marco; (Los Altos
Hills, CA) ; Martin; Joseph Joaquin; (San Francisco,
CA) ; Schulz; Torsten; (Pinneberg, DE) ;
Singh; Jerald Jayant; (Sunnyvale, CA) ; Srinivasan;
Venkatachary; (Sunnyvale, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
MORRISON & FOERSTER LLP
425 MARKET STREET
SAN FRANCISCO
CA
94105-2482
US
|
Assignee: |
Yahoo! Inc.
Sunnyvale
CA
|
Family ID: |
37420413 |
Appl. No.: |
11/129697 |
Filed: |
May 13, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 ;
707/999.103; 707/E17.009 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 16/489 20190101;
G06F 16/447 20190101 |
Class at
Publication: |
707/103.00R |
International
Class: |
G06F 17/00 20060101
G06F017/00 |
Claims
1. A media object organizer comprising: memory for storing at least
one metadatum concerning a media object; and association logic for
associating the at least one metadatum with at least one
organizational attribute maintained by an information management
service.
2. The media object organizer of claim 1, wherein the at least one
metadatum is extracted from information from an apparatus providing
the media object.
3. The media object organizer of claim 1, wherein the association
logic is operable to group together into a collection media objects
associated with the same organizational attribute.
4. The media object organizer of claim 1, wherein the association
logic is operable to provide a set of organizational attributes
associated with the at least one metadatum from which set a user
may select an organizational attribute to be associated with a
collection of media objects.
5. The media object organizer of claim 1, further comprising
display logic for presenting to a user a collection of media
objects associated with the same organizational attribute.
6. The media object organizer of claim 1, further comprising logic
for associating an annotation with the media object for
presentation together to the user, wherein the annotation comprises
an associated organizational attribute.
7. The media object organizer of claim 1, further comprising logic
for associating an annotation with the media object for
presentation together to the user, wherein the annotation comprises
at least one metadatum related to the media object.
8. The media object organizer of claim 6 or 7, wherein the logic
for associating an annotation is operable to provide a set of
optional annotations from which a user may select an annotation to
be presented together with the media object.
9. The media object organizer of claim 6 or 7, wherein the
association logic is operable to group together into a collection
media objects associated with the same organizational attribute,
wherein the annotation associated with at least one media object in
the collection may be different from the organizational attribute
associated with the collection.
10. The media object organizer of claim 1, further comprising
search logic for searching media objects based upon organizational
attribute.
11. The media object organizer of claim 1, wherein the
organizational attribute is based upon time.
12. The media object organizer of claim 11, wherein the
organizational attribute is based upon the date the media object is
created.
13. The media object organizer of claim 11, wherein the information
management service comprises a calendar.
14. The media object organizer of claim 1, wherein the
organizational attribute is based upon an event.
15. The media object organizer of claim 14, wherein the information
management service comprises a calendar.
16. The media object organizer of claim 1, wherein the
organizational attribute is based upon a place.
17. The media object organizer of claim 16, wherein the information
management service comprises an address book.
18. The media object organizer of claim 16, wherein the association
logic is operable to chronologically order media objects related to
the same place.
19. The media object organizer of claim 1, wherein the
organizational attribute is based upon a person.
20. The media object organizer of claim 19, wherein the information
management service comprises an address book.
21. The media object organizer of claim 19, wherein the
organizational attribute is based upon an identification of a
calling number from a telephone.
22. The media object organizer of claim 2, wherein the apparatus
comprises a digital camera.
23. The media object organizer of claim 2, wherein the apparatus
comprises an audio device.
24. The media object organizer of claim 2, wherein the apparatus
comprises an email server.
25. The media object organizer of claim 22, wherein the
organizational attribute is based upon a sender of email, and the
information management service comprises an address book.
26. The media object organizer of claim 2, wherein the apparatus
comprises a media server.
27. The media object organizer of claim 2, wherein the apparatus
comprises a GPS unit.
28. An image organizer comprising: memory for storing metadata for
a plurality of images, including at least one metadatum concerning
each image; association logic for associating the at least one
metadatum with at least one organizational attribute maintained by
an information management service, wherein the association logic is
operable to group together into a collection images associated with
the same organizational attribute; search logic for searching
images based upon organizational attribute; and display logic for
presenting to a user a collection of images associated with the
same organizational attribute.
29. The image organizer of claim 28, wherein the at least one
metadatum is extracted from information from an apparatus providing
the image.
30. The image organizer of claim 28, wherein the association logic
is operable to provide a set of organizational attributes
associated with the at least one metadatum from which set a user
may select an organizational attribute to be associated with a
collection of images.
31. The image organizer of claim 28, wherein the organizational
attribute is based upon time.
32. The image organizer of claim 31, wherein the organizational
attribute is based upon the date the image is created.
33. The image organizer of claim 31, wherein the information
management service comprises a calendar.
34. The image organizer of claim 28, wherein the organizational
attribute is based upon an event.
35. The image organizer of claim 34, wherein the information
management service comprises a calendar.
36. The image organizer of claim 28, wherein the organizational
attribute is based upon a place.
37. The image organizer of claim 36, wherein the information
management service comprises an address book.
38. The image organizer of claim 36, wherein the association logic
is operable to chronologically order images related to the same
place.
39. The image organizer of claim 28, wherein the organizational
attribute is based upon a person.
40. The image organizer of claim 39, wherein the information
management service comprises an address book.
41. The image organizer of claim 29, wherein the apparatus
comprises a digital camera.
42. The image organizer of claim 29, wherein the apparatus
comprises an email server.
43. The image organizer of claim 42, wherein the organizational
attribute is based upon a sender of email, and the information
management service comprises an address book.
44. The image organizer of claim 29, wherein the apparatus
comprises a media server.
45. A method for organizing media objects comprising: storing at
least one metadatum concerning a media object; and associating the
at least one metadatum with at least one organizational attribute
maintained by an information management service.
46. The method of claim 45, further comprising extracting the at
least one metadatum from information from an apparatus providing
the media object.
47. The method of claim 45, further comprising grouping together
into a collection media objects associated with the same
organizational attribute.
48. The method of claim 45, further comprising providing a set of
organizational attributes associated with the at least one
metadatum from which set a user may select an organizational
attribute to be associated with a collection of media objects.
49. The method of claim 45, further comprising presenting to a user
a collection of media objects associated with the same
organizational attribute.
50. The method of claim 45, further comprising associating an
annotation with the media object for presentation together to the
user, wherein the annotation comprises an associated organizational
attribute.
51. The method of claim 45, further comprising associating an
annotation with the media object for presentation together to the
user, wherein the annotation comprises at least one metadatum
related to the media object.
52. The method of claim 50 or 51, wherein associating an annotation
comprises providing a set of optional annotations from which a user
may select an annotation to be presented together with the media
object.
53. The method of claim 50 or 51, further comprising grouping
together into a collection media objects associated with the same
organizational attribute, wherein the annotation associated with at
least one media object in the collection may be different from the
organizational attribute associated with the collection.
54. The method of claim 45, further comprising searching media
objects based upon organizational attribute.
55. The method of claim 45, wherein the organizational attribute is
based upon time.
56. The method of claim 55, wherein the organizational attribute is
based upon the date the media object is created.
57. The method of claim 55, wherein the information management
service comprises a calendar.
58. The method of claim 45, wherein the organizational attribute is
based upon an event.
59. The method of claim 58, wherein the information management
service comprises a calendar.
60. The method of claim 45, wherein the organizational attribute is
based upon a place.
61. The method of claim 60, wherein the information management
service comprises an address book.
62. The method of claim 60, further comprising chronologically
ordering media objects related to the same place.
63. The method of claim 45, wherein the organizational attribute is
based upon a person.
64. The method of claim 63, wherein the information management
service comprises an address book.
65. The method of claim 63, wherein the organizational attribute is
based upon an identification of a calling number from a
telephone.
66. The method of claim 46, wherein the apparatus comprises a
digital camera.
67. The method of claim 46, wherein the apparatus comprises an
audio device.
68. The method of claim 46, wherein the apparatus comprises an
email server.
69. The method of claim 68, wherein the organizational attribute is
based upon a sender of email, and the information management
service comprises an address book.
70. The method of claim 46, wherein the apparatus comprises a media
server.
71. The method of claim 46, wherein the apparatus comprises a GPS
unit.
72. A computer program product comprising program code for
organizing media objects, the computer program product comprising:
program code for storing in a memory at least one metadatum
concerning a media object; and program code for associating the at
least one metadatum with at least one organizational attribute
maintained by an information management service.
73. The computer program product of claim 72, further comprising
program code for extracting the at least one metadatum from
information from an apparatus providing the media object.
74. The computer program product of claim 72, wherein the program
code for associating is operable to group together into a
collection media objects associated with the same organizational
attribute.
75. The computer program product of claim 72, wherein the program
code for associating is operable to provide a set of organizational
attributes associated with the at least one metadatum from which
set a user may select an organizational attribute to be associated
with a collection of media objects.
76. The computer program product of claim 72, further program code
for presenting to a user a collection of media objects associated
with the same organizational attribute.
77. The computer program product of claim 72, further comprising
program code for associating an annotation with the media object
for presentation together to the user, wherein the annotation
comprises an associated organizational attribute.
78. The computer program product of claim 72, further comprising
program code for associating an annotation with the media object
for presentation together to the user, wherein the annotation
comprises at least one metadatum related to the media object.
79. The computer program product of claim 77 or 78, wherein the
program code for associating an annotation is operable to provide a
set of optional annotations from which a user may select an
annotation to be presented together with the media object.
80. The computer program product of claim 77 or 78, wherein the
program code for associating is operable to group together into a
collection media objects associated with the same organizational
attribute, wherein the annotation associated with at least one
media object in the collection may be different from the
organizational attribute associated with the collection.
81. The computer program product of claim 72, further comprising
program code for searching media objects based upon organizational
attribute.
82. The computer program product of claim 72, wherein the
organizational attribute is based upon time.
83. The computer program product of claim 82, wherein the
organizational attribute is based upon the date the media object is
created.
84. The computer program product of claim 82, wherein the
information management service comprises a calendar.
85. The computer program product of claim 72, wherein the
organizational attribute is based upon an event.
86. The computer program product of claim 85, wherein the
information management service comprises a calendar.
87. The computer program product of claim 72, wherein the
organizational attribute is based upon a place.
88. The computer program product of claim 87, wherein the
information management service comprises an address book.
89. The computer program product of claim 87, wherein the program
code for associating is operable to chronologically order media
objects related to the same place.
90. The computer program product of claim 72, wherein the
organizational attribute is based upon a person.
91. The computer program product of claim 90, wherein the
information management service comprises an address book.
92. The computer program product of claim 90, wherein the
organizational attribute is based upon an identification of a
calling number from a telephone.
93. The computer program product of claim 73, wherein the apparatus
comprises a digital camera.
94. The computer program product of claim 73, wherein the apparatus
comprises an audio device.
95. The computer program product of claim 73, wherein the apparatus
comprises an email server.
96. The computer program product of claim 95, wherein the
organizational attribute is based upon a sender of email, and the
information management service comprises an address book.
97. The computer program product of claim 73, wherein the apparatus
comprises a media server.
98. The computer program product of claim 73, wherein the apparatus
comprises a GPS unit.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention generally relates to the organization
and display of media objects, and, more particularly, to
dynamically grouping media objects according to organizational
attributes of information management services, such as those found
in personal information management devices (PIMs).
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] Users of media recording and playback devices are able to
store in their personal libraries large volumes of media objects,
such as photographic images from digital cameras, and songs from
the Internet. While this capability has been widely used, the
quantity of information to be managed has become unwieldy. Digital
cameras, for example, usually label images with non-descriptive
terms. Users of digital cameras thus often need to manually label
the images, and organize them into albums based on subject matter.
It would be desirable to find a way to automatically label and
organize media objects into collections based upon naturally
occurring relationships between the media objects and related
attributes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] The present invention provides a media object organizer for
organizing media objects, such as still or moving photographic
images, audio files or documents. The media object organizer
includes memory for storing one or more metadata concerning a media
object, and association logic for associating the metadata with at
least one organizational attribute maintained by an information
management service. The information management service may be a
service such as calendar, address book or task list. The media
object organizer may extract the metadata from information from an
apparatus providing the media object.
[0006] The organizational attribute may be based upon an event or
upon time, such as the date the media object is created. For
time-based or event-based attributes, the information management
service may comprise a calendar. Alternatively, the organizational
attribute may be based upon place, in which case the information
management service may comprise an address book or a calendar. The
association logic may chronologically order media objects related
to the same place. As another alternative, the organizational
attribute may be based upon a person, in which case the information
management service may comprise an address book or a calendar. In
yet another alternative, the organizational attribute may be based
upon an identification of a calling number from a telephone, in
which case the information management service may comprise an
address book.
[0007] The apparatus may be a device, such as a digital camera, an
audio playback device or a GPS unit, or a server, such as an email
server or a media server. For an email server, the organizational
attribute may be based upon a sender of email, and the information
management service may comprise an address book.
[0008] The association logic, which may be implemented as a rules
evaluator, may group together into a collection media objects
associated with the same organizational attribute. The association
logic may provide a set of organizational attributes associated
with the one or more metadata, from which set a user may select an
organizational attribute to be associated with a collection of
media objects. Display logic may present to a user a collection of
media objects associated with the same organizational
attribute.
[0009] The media object organizer may associate an annotation with
the media object for presentation together to the user, wherein the
annotation comprises an associated organizational attribute or one
or more metadata related to the media object. The media object
organizer may provide a set of optional annotations from which a
user may select an annotation to be presented together with the
media object. The association logic may group together into a
collection media objects associated with the same organizational
attribute, wherein the annotation associated with at least one
media object in the collection may be different from the
organizational attribute associated with the collection.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 illustrates a media object organizer according to
embodiments of the present invention.
[0011] FIG. 2 illustrates a media object record including metadata
and a reference to a media object according to embodiments of the
present invention.
[0012] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a calendar entry according
to embodiments of the present invention
[0013] FIG. 4 illustrates a display of an album of thumbnail images
according to embodiments of the present invention
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0014] The following description is presented to enable a person of
ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention.
Descriptions of specific devices, techniques, and applications are
provided only as examples. Various modifications to the examples
described herein will be readily apparent to those of ordinary
skill in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be
applied to other examples and applications without departing from
the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention
is not intended to be limited to the examples described herein and
shown, but is to be accorded the scope consistent with the
claims.
[0015] FIG. 1 illustrates a media object organizer 100 according to
embodiments of the invention. The media organizer may include
memory such as a media object metadata database 102, a metadata
importer 104, a rules evaluator 106, memory such as an information
management services database 108, search logic 110, and display
logic 112. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the
information management services and metadata databases may reside
in the same database.
[0016] The media object organizer 100 may be stored as an
application in any computer system. For example, the media object
organizer may run on a standalone computer or on a client computer
connected to a media server over a network. The discussion below
describes a media object organizer for photographic images, as an
example. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the media
object organizer may be used to organize collections of any type of
media object, such as still images, moving images, audio files and
documents. The images may be either derived from a photograph or
computer-generated.
[0017] The metadata importer 104 loads metadata related to media
objects into the media object metadata database 102. FIG. 2
illustrates a metadata record 200 including metadata 202 and a
reference 204 to the storage location of a media object. The
metadata may include a record identifier uniquely identifying the
media object. The metadata importer 104 may extract metadata from a
local computer memory storing the media objects and associated
metadata, which in turn obtained the metadata from one or more
content-providing apparatus providing the metadata. The apparatus
may be a device connected directly to the local computer, such as a
digital camera or an audio playback device, from which the media
objects and metadata are loaded into the local computer memory.
Alternatively, the metadata importer 104 may extract the metadata
from information from an apparatus that is a node on a network 114
that provides content (i.e., content node 116), such as a media
server like Yahoo! Photos.RTM.. The metadata importer 104 may
retrieve (pull) the metadata from the apparatus, or the apparatus
may push new metadata to the metadata importer upon receipt of a
new media object. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the
metadata database 102 may store metadata from multiple apparatus at
the same time.
[0018] For example, the metadata for a photograph may include the
date and time the photo was created, aperture, shutter speed and
other settings. The metadata importer 104 may extract metadata
from, for example, the EXIF (Exchangeable Image File) header stored
inside the uploaded file by many digital cameras, or the IPTC
(International Press Telecommunications Council) header stored
inside the uploaded file by many photo management and organization
software packages. The metadata importer 104 may also note the date
and time the media object was uploaded, and store that information
as metadata in the metadata database 102, as well.
[0019] The metadata importer 104 may extract metadata from
information provided by other devices, such as a video camera, or
an audio playback device. Alternatively, the apparatus providing
metadata may comprise a media server, such as a photo server or a
music server, or an email server. The media server may, in turn,
receive media objects and metadata uploaded from devices such as a
camera phone. From an email from the email server, the metadata
importer 104 may extract the sender identifier as a metadatum. A
mobile device such as a video camera or camera phone may include a
GPS unit to provide geographic coordinates. In that case, the
metadata importer may extract location metadata from information
provided by the GPS unit, either directly from the GPS unit
connected to the local computer or over a network from a server
storing the media object associated with the GPS unit.
[0020] The information management services database 108 stores
organizational attributes provided by information management
devices. An information management device is any device that
organizes information, including PIM devices such as a
Blackberry.RTM. or a Treo.RTM., or more dedicated mobile phones
that provide more limited information management services.
Information management services may include, for example, PIM
services such as calendar, address book, tasks, and notes. A
calendar typically maintains time-related organizational attributes
such as events (e.g., meetings, birthdays, holidays) related to
corresponding date and time ranges. Referring to FIG. 3, for
example, a calendar may maintain an entry 300 for "Joanna's
Birthday" for Jun. 11, 1969. An address book typically maintains
organizational attributes related to a person (e.g., a legal
"person" such as a human or business entity, or even a pet), a
place (e.g., the person's address), or other contact information
attributes (e.g., telephone numbers). The information management
services database 108 receives these organizational attributes from
the information management devices, frequently upon (wired or
wireless) connection of the information management device to the
media object organizer 100.
[0021] The rules evaluator 106 may associate each received
metadatum with an organizational attribute or a set of related
organizational attributes (e.g., the set of the same birthday month
and day over a period of years) maintained by an information
management service. For example, the rules evaluator may associate
a date metadatum associated with a photograph uploaded from a
digital camera with an event such as a birthday or vacation
scheduled on that date in a calendar. In other examples, the rules
evaluator 106 may associate sender metadatum from an email with a
person in an address book, or associate a location metadatum from a
GPS unit with an address in an address book, and thus with the
person located at that address. In another example, the rules
evaluator may associate caller ID (i.e., ANI) metadatum from a
mobile phone with a telephone number in an address book, and thus
with the person assigned that telephone number. As a result, a
photo image sent from a camera phone may be associated with the
person sending the photo based upon the ANI.
[0022] The association of metadata with organizational attributes
enables the media objects to be grouped into one or more dynamic
collections according to common organizational attributes. The
organizational attribute for a collection may be derived from many
different information management services, or just those specified
by the user. Similarly, the metadata and associated media objects
for a collection may be derived from many different apparatus, or
just those specified by the user.
[0023] The metadata database 102 or other memory may store the
associations of organizational attributes with media object record
identifiers, thereby storing the information necessary to identify
the collections. The collections are "dynamic" in that the addition
of a media object to a user's library of media objects requires the
rules evaluator to determine an association for the new media
object, which may result in the media object being added to an
existing collection.
[0024] The collections may be, for example, dynamic electronic
photo albums or music playlists. The media objects need only be
stored in one place, e.g., file storage on a user's computer or on
a media object server, with the database 102 providing a reference
storage location for each media object. Because each media object
may belong to more than one collection, the use of references
eliminates the need for redundant storage.
[0025] The search engine 110 allows a user to search for media
objects based upon organizational attribute, e.g., an event such as
a birthday party (e.g., based upon the date the media object was
created), a location such as a friend's home, or a person. Display
logic 112 allows the set of media objects associated with the same
organizational attribute to be presented to a user. The display
logic 112 may use any format commonly used for images or other
media objects, such as lists or thumbnails that are enlargeable
based on user clicking of the thumbnail. FIG. 4 illustrates the
example of a display of an album 400 of photo images in thumbnail
form for the organizational attribute Joanna's Birthday. Each image
402 may be identified in the database 102 by a different record
identifier. For any non-time-related organizational attribute
(e.g., location), the database search queries allow the media
objects to be retrieved organized first by the non-time-related
attribute, and then chronologically. For example, the display may
show chronologically-ordered photographs relating to the same
place.
[0026] Rather than automatically creating one or more collections,
the rules evaluator 106, through the display logic user interface,
may present to a user a set of natural choices for collections. A
media object may correspond to different metadata that may be
associated with different organizational attributes. For example, a
digital camera with a GPS unit may provide an image having time and
location metadata that may be associated with both the
organizational attributes "Joanna's birthday" from a calendar entry
and "Shelley's house" (Shelley hosted Joanna's party) from an
address book entry. The user may be given the option to choose one
of the organizational attributes (Joanna's birthday or Shelley's
house) as the organizing theme for a photo album. In another
example, a single metadatum for a media object may match multiple
organizational attributes. For example, the location metadatum of
the image may correspond not only to Shelley's house, but also to
Wendy's house (in the case where Wendy is Shelley's roommate). The
user may be given the option to choose either Shelley's house or
Wendy's house as the organizational attribute serving as the
organizing theme of the album.
[0027] Moreover, the rules evaluator 106 may associate an
annotation with the media object, wherein the annotation comprises
at least one matching organizational attribute or at least one
metadatum for the media object. This association allows
presentation of the annotated media object (whether alone or as
part of a collection) to the user. The rules evaluator may present
to the user, through the display logic 112, a list of matching
organizational attributes or metadata for each media object. The
user may select the organizational attribute or metadatum to use as
an annotation.
[0028] Note that, even though a media object may be presented to
the user as part of a collection collectively labeled according to
one organizational attribute or metadatum, each media object within
the collection may be individually annotated with the selected
annotation (which may differ from the label of the collection). For
example, some photographs may be displayed with the label "Joanna's
birthday party," where the label is derived from the calendar entry
(organizational attribute) corresponding to the date metadatum
indicating the date the photo was taken. However, the user may
instead choose to display a collection of photographs associated
with the organizational attribute "Hawaii vacation." If Joanna's
birthday took place during a vacation in Hawaii, and the calendar
included both the birthday and vacation attributes for the same
day, then the displayed album labeled "Hawaii vacation" may include
some images individually labeled "Joanna's birthday."
[0029] Based on the foregoing, the media object organizer of the
invention allows the automatic organization and labeling of media
objects into one or more collections without the need for action by
the user.
[0030] It will be appreciated that the above description for
clarity has described embodiments of the invention with reference
to different functional units. However, it will be apparent that
any suitable distribution of functionality between different
functional units may be used without detracting from the invention.
Hence, references to specific functional units are only to be seen
as references to suitable means for providing the described
functionality rather than indicative of a strict logical or
physical structure or organization.
[0031] The invention can be implemented in any suitable form
including hardware, software, firmware or any combination of these,
and, in particular, in program code and associated hardware.
Different aspects of the invention may be implemented at least
partly as computer software or firmware running on one or more data
processors. The elements and components of an embodiment of the
invention may be physically, functionally and logically implemented
in any suitable way. Indeed the functionality may be implemented in
a single unit, in a plurality of units or as part of other
functional units. As such, the invention may be implemented in a
single unit or may be physically and functionally distributed
between different units and processors.
[0032] Although the present invention has been described in
connection with some embodiments, it is not intended to be limited
to the specific form set forth herein. Rather, the scope of the
present invention is limited only by the claims. Additionally,
although a feature may appear to be described in connection with a
particular embodiment, one skilled in the art would recognize that
various features of the described embodiments may be combined in
accordance with the invention. Moreover, aspects of the invention
describe in connection with an embodiment may stand alone as an
invention.
[0033] Moreover, it will be appreciated that various modifications
and alterations may be made by those skilled in the art without
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The invention
is not to be limited by the foregoing illustrative details, but is
to be defined according to the claims.
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